We tested compounds found in honey bee, Apis mellifera L,., sting alarm phe
romone for their roles in releasing behavioral responses, with a focus on t
he relative importance of chemotaxis and motion of the target in the locali
zation response. Some compounds in the blend have specialized functions. Be
nzyl acetate released only flight behavior, whereas three compounds (l-buta
nol, l-octanol, and hexyl acetate) caused only the recruitment response. Ot
her compounds (1-hexanol, butyl acetate, iso-pentyl acetate, and 2-nonanol)
acted in more than one behavioral context. Octyl acetate was the most effe
ctive compound in allowing bees to locate targets, but did not recruit or r
elease flight behavior. Stationary octyl acetate sources were located by fl
ying bees, indicating that this pheromone component elicits a chemotactic r
esponse. However, localization of a target is due primarily to the motion o
f the target; the alarm pheromone components release searching behavior for
a moving object and are relatively unimportant in target localization.